2021 High School Winners

Valerie Xiong is a senior at Piedmont High School in Piedmont, California. Valerie is planning to go to college but has yet to make a final decision on where she will attend. She found out about the contest in her AP Environmental Science class as part of an assignment in which the teacher encouraged students to participate. Prior to submitting the video, Valerie did now know much about “climate migrants” but was excited to learn more. She was inspired to submit a video to the Promoting Environmental Justice” topic because she is passionate about both science and the humanities. Before the contest, Valerie admitted she was “mildly aware” about the impacts of population growth and that she “learned more in class and got better acquainted with the topic.” Valerie added that “population is a hard problem to face because we don’t have enough resources for everyone.”

Before starting the video production process, Valerie and her co-producer, Isnene Schirrecker, knew they wanted to do something with animation. Although, “they were not skilled in video editing,”, they believed a video was a great way to relay a message in such a short amount of time. The most challenging part of the process for Valerie was working remotely, reflecting how, “it made it hard to work with a partner” because they were in two different places. Though, in the end, Valerie believed it worked out well. She advises future participants to, “delve into the topic, have a solid video plan and script and have a first draft.” She added that receiving peer feedback was also extremely helpful for her. For next year’s contest, she would like to see a topic about urbanization, “because cities are growing and population density in cities creates great environmental impact which brings about many sub-issues,” she shared. She is saving her prize money for college-related expenses in the fall.

In her free time, Valerie likes to play sports. She is on the cross country team as well as the track team and she is also on the journalism staff at school. She likes to travel, go hiking and backpacking, and being outdoors in general. She is also into vegan cooking and does it often. Valerie is inspired by many people in her family and found it difficult to choose just one. She also admires Jane Goodall and what she has achieved in her life. Learning remotely has been a challenge for Valerie because she has not had a chance to form bonds with her peers, an activity that would have been easier to do in person.